Alexander Nevsky

(St.
Alexander)

Alexander Yaroslavich was born around
1220 at Pereslavl Zalessky (150km NE of Moscow) and was the second of
three sons of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the devout orthodox Grand Prince
of the medieval Russian state of Vladimir.

The noble family into which he was born
contributed greatly to the fiefdom they controlled, with the local cathedral
and monastery being well supported. A simple chapel was also connected
to their lakeside home by a wooden arcade and this environment was destined
to influence Alexander's path through life.

In 1236 when Alexander's
father moved up the nation's hierarchy to become Grand Prince of Kiev, Alexander
took over as Fief of Novgorod. This was in essence a military commission.
From the relatively tender age of 16 yrs, he ruled over this feudal republic
with a divine sense of fairness taken from his pious Christian roots and
his daily reading of the Testaments.

Mongols invading this northern part of Russia caused him to combine fighting with ruling, yet he still managed to live a wholesome life and married the daughter of the Prince of Polotsk in 1239. However he sacrificed much of his time for the good of the people.

Alexander's direct reign over this troubled area lasted until 1252 when he succeeded his brother Andrew as Prince of Vladimir, although he continued to control justice in Novgorod through his son, Vassily. In 1255 Alexander took up arms again to quell a rebellion against Vassily.

It was particularly
as an unselfish defender of the material and spiritual inheritance for his
country and its people, that has rendered his name immortal, plus his victorious
resistance to the Swedes, Lithuanians and Teutonic Knights. Also subsequently,
when he became The Grand Prince, by establishing an acceptable modus
vivendi with the Mongolian overlords.

His victorious
battle against the invading Swedish army on the banks of the Neva river
at its junction with the Izhora, earned him the nickname of Nevsky (meaning of the Neva),
which became the name history remembers him by. Just over a year later in 1242
saw Nevsky gain greater fame in another battle, by leading the Russian army
to victory against the invading steel clad German Teutons at Lake Chudskoye.

By his faith,
Alexander disliked war and political unrest so he strove for collaboration
with the mighty Mongols. The Tartars themselves were profoundly impressed
by the conduct of a man who had become the Grand Prince of Russia and
whose reputation went before him. He still had to use great diplomacy
to dissuade these warlords to leave his country in peace.

It is recorded
that moments before his demise in 1263 Alexander gave up his princely rank
and donned the habit of a monk. In 1381 he was canonized by Cyprian, metropolitan
of Kiev and All Russia. This coincided with his enhanced elevation to imperial
favour when Dmitri Donskoy defeated the Tartars. This Prince of Moscow saw that the
raising of his ancestor to the altars strengthened his own political prestige and
power.

Five centuries after his death, following
Peter the Great's own victory against the Swedes, Peter arranged for St.
Alexander's remains to be transported to his new capital of St. Petersburg
where they lie today, in the monastery that bears his name. Shortly after
the death of Peter the Great in 1725, his wife Catherine I of Russia instituted
the Order of Alexander Nevsky. Although abolished in 1917, it was revived
by the Soviet government in 1942. During and after the Second World War Alexander
Nevsky became a symbol of Russian resistance to German invasion. The Russian
Orthodox Church financed an armoured division called 'Alexander Nevski'

A tribute
immortalizing this remarkable man, is the new monument in
the center of the traffic island at Ploschad Alexander Nevskogo, which
is just outside the entrance to the Lavra where his remains are buried.
This statue was unveiled in May 2002.

Recognition that Nevsky is Russia’s
greatest ever hero comes in a poll conducted by one of its country’s
biggest TV stations, Rossiya. Over 50 million people voted by text,
phone, or on the Internet during a six month period and the result
was announced in late December 2008.

Click on the image at the top of the page to see a photo
of the new Nevsky monument.